Mother - Máthair

Ogham Necklace

These necklaces celebrate mothers, be it birth mother, mother by
heart or the great mother of us all. Máthair is the Gaelic
word for mother. Máthair, written in the ancient Ogham alphabet,
are carefully hand cut (pierced through the metal) to create these
pendants. The front of these pendants are polished to a high shine
and the backs have a brushed texture so even if you cannot read
Ogham or Gaelic you will always know which is the front. The base
metal pendants are sealed with bees wax after polishing and will
gain a natural patina over time unique to its wearer. The pendants
hang from an adjustable black cotton cord that can be replaced with
a jump ring upon request. This necklace comes with an information sheet about the Ogham alphabet and what the pendant says.

The Ogham Alphabet:
Sometimes referred to as the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", Ogham
was used between the 4th and 7th centuries AD in Ireland, Scotland,
Wales, and England. The initial alphabet consisted of 20 characters
with a few more complex characters being added later. The letters
were formed by combinations of short lines on and at either side
of a middle line called a "flesc". With a vertical flesc
words are read from bottom to top.
Although surviving traces of Ogham were inscribed on stone it was
probably more commonly inscribed on sticks, stakes, and trees to
mark boundaries. There is also evidence from early Irish sagas and
legends that indicates Ogham was used for short inscriptions on
wood or metal used to relay messages (some cryptic in nature or
for magical purposes) or to denote ownership of the object. There
is also evidence that suggests that Ogham may have been used to
keep genealogy records, numerical tallies of property, and business
transactions.
Of the 400-500 remaining inscriptions a handful have been found
featuring Ogham along with the Latin alphabet, most of the inscriptions
are in an archaic form of Gaelic and Pictish.